Stephen King and Steven Spielberg Go ‘Under The Dome’ With Showtime

The premium cable network will adapt King's novel for its first genre series in nearly eight years.

In 2006, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg attempted to team up for a TV miniseries adaptation of King's novel, "The Talisman;" which was ultimately abandoned by TNT. However, the legendary duo will soon get another chance to work together.

According to Deadline, Showtime has picked up the rights to adapt King's 2009 novel, "Under the Dome" with Spielberg and DreamWorks Television attached to produce.

"Under the Dome" takes place in the near future as a vacation spot in Maine is enclosed in a force field that suddenly cuts it off from the rest of the world, causing the people within to be trapped while other more opportunistic parties use the incident as a means to seize control of the town and everyone who lives there.

Currently, there isn't a screenwriter attached to adapt King's novel into a pilot, but DreamWorks is reportedly looking for a writer to do so. It's also a notable pickup for Showtime which has largely stayed away from the fantasy or sci-fi series since "Dead Like Me" debuted in 2003. The recent success of Spielberg's "Falling Skies" may have helped spur this decision.

The current Syfy series "Haven" is loosely based on King's "The Colorado Kid" novella, but the author has extensive experience in bringing his works to TV. An adaptation of King's "The Dead Zone" ran for six seasons on USA, in addition to several TV movies and miniseries based on "It," "The Stand," "Salem's Lot," "The Shinning," the miniseries "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" and dozens of others.

Until recently, director Ron Howard had planned an ambitious adaptation of King's "The Dark Tower" series that would have included both a movie trilogy and a limited TV miniseries set to run between the films. Universal backed out of the project, but it may yet find a studio willing to take it on.

What are your thoughts on "Under the Dome" as a potential TV series? Who would you cast as Big Jim and Barbie? Let us know in the comment section below!